Aarrrgh! Music piracy as popular as ever among US kids

Yeah, you heard me. Come on, close your mouths and get to action. According to a survey in the US by investment bank Piper Jaffray, 61% of students are still out there nicking their tunes from the poor, helpless record companies whose CEOs are most likely on the streets with mangy alsations, unkempt beards and tin collection cups as we speak. Tragic.

The figure is down just three percent on last year’s “Taking Stock With Teens” survey, which rather reminds me of the child eco-awareness project in South Park, “Getting Gay With Kids”. The study is used as a yard stick for the economy and examines the spending habits of US teens across a number of categories including digital media.

Ignoring the morality of illegal downloading for a second, should we be surprised? It’s human nature, isn’t it? It’s there, it’s free, it’s available and as a casual downloader, you’re in virtually no danger.

It’s a simple choice. On the one hand, you can pay for something on the other, you can have the same product for free, and so in comes the moral argument. I don’t see any big record companies folding because of illegal downloads and if it’s the artists you’re worried about, it’s their label’s responsibility to pay them properly.

Independent record companies are a different matter and it’s a great shame that we’ve seen so many old favourites disappear over the last few years. So, I suppose the bottom lines is, if you’re going to break the law, do it responsibly.